Polyolefins are plastic materials useful for making a wide variety of valued products due to their combination of stiffness, ductility, barrier properties, temperature resistance, optical properties, availability, and low cost. In particular, polyethylene (PE) is one of the largest volume polymers consumed in the world. It is a versatile polymer that offers high performance relative to other polymers and alternative materials such as glass, metal or paper. One of the most valued products is plastic films. Plastic films such as PE films are mostly used in packaging applications but they also find utility in the agricultural, medical and engineering fields.
PE films can be manufactured via extrusion from a variety of resins, such as for example bimodal resins (e.g., dual metallocene resins), unimodal resins (e.g., chromium resins), etc. Generally, some bimodal resins have poor film processability when compared to unimodal resins, e.g., some bimodal resins are notoriously more difficult to extrude than unimodal resins, as they require a significantly higher extrusion pressure. However, PE films manufactured from unimodal resins often lack in film properties (e.g., strength, tear, etc.) against bimodal resins. An ongoing need exists for bimodal polymer compositions having improved film processability.